Liu’s team had previously worked with bone scaffolds, which are used to repair bone defects, before turning their attention to cardiovascular disease and vascular grafts. They describe their current research in the journal AIP Advances.

The researchers used electrospinning, a process which uses an electrical charge to draw liquid into very fine fibres.

The resulting structure isn’t very rigid so the researchers designed a three-layer model in which the mixture was electrospun onto both sides of a microimprinted middle layer of a biodegradable polymer commonly used in biomedical applications. The ends of this sheet were then folded and attached to make a tube-like vessel.

Liu and her team then seeded the scaffold with rat fibroblast cells. These are easily cultivated and have a quick growth rate.

While a good deal of work remains before the prospect of human trials, Liu and her group are optimistic about the future of the research.